Early life and background
Born in London and baptised on 24 January 1664, Vanbrugh was the fourth child (of 19), and eldest surviving son, of Giles Vanbrugh, a London cloth-merchant of Flemish descent (as evident in the name, contracted from "Van Brugh") and Protestant background, and his wife Elizabeth,Beard, p. 12. widow of Thomas Barker (by whom Vanbrugh's mother had the first of her twenty children, Vanbrugh's elder half-sister, Elizabeth), and daughter of Sir Dudley Carleton, ofConnections
Some of Vanbrugh's kinsmen – as he addressed them in his letters: * The Earl of Arran (1639–1686). His wife (from 1673) was Vanbrugh's first-cousin, Dorothy née Ferrers * The 3rd Earl of Berkshire (1619–1706). Frances née Harrison, Countess of Berkshire. Vanbrugh's grandfather's sister, Elizabeth Carleton married John Harrison, uncle of the Countess of Berkshire and in addition the Countess's aunt, Anne Garrard, married Dudley Carleton, Viscount Dorchester, uncle to Vanbrugh's same grandfather. Frances was (half) second cousin to Vanbrugh's mother. * The 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1669–1738) ofPolitical activism and the Bastille
From 1686, Vanbrugh was working undercover, playing a role in bringing about the armed invasion by William of Orange, the deposition of James II, and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He thus demonstrates an intense early identification with the Whig cause ofPublic life
London
Vanbrugh's London career was diverse and varied, comprising playwriting, architectural design, and attempts to combine these two overarching interests. His overlapping achievements and business ventures were sometimes confusing even to Vanbrugh himself.The Kit-Cat Club
A committed Whig, Vanbrugh was a member of theThe Haymarket theatre
In 1703, Vanbrugh started buying land and signing backers for the construction of a new theatre in Haymarket, designed by himself and managed by Vanbrugh along withThe College of Arms
Vanbrugh's introduction and advancement in theMarriage and death
In 1719, atPlaywright
Vanbrugh arrived in London at a time of scandal and internal drama at London's only theatre company, as a long-running conflict between pinchpenny management and disgruntled actors came to a head and the actors walked out. A new comedy staged with the makeshift remainder of the company in January 1696,''The Relapse''
Cibber's ''''The Provoked Wife''
Vanbrugh's second original comedy, ''The Provoked Wife'', followed soon after, performed by the rebel actors' company. This play is different in tone from the largely farcical ''The Relapse'', and adapted to the greater acting skills of the rebels. Vanbrugh had good reason to offer his second play to the new company, which had got off to a brilliant start by premièring Congreve's ''Other works
* ''Aesop'' (1697) * ''Changing audience taste
In 1698, Vanbrugh's argumentative and sexually frank plays were singled out for special attention byArchitect
The precise reasons and motivations behind Vanbrugh's change in career remain unclear, but the decision was sudden enough even to be remarked upon by commentators of his time: :''Van’s genius, without thought or lecture,'' :''Is hugely turn’d to architecture.''Castle Howard
Vanbrugh's House
In July 1700 the King granted Vanbrugh permission to build on the ruins of Whitehall at his own expense. Brick and stone from the ruins of the Palace of Whitehall were used and the house was sited on what was the Vice-Chamberlain's lodgings. The small, two storied house was unique in design, though its size and proportions led to it being called, unflatteringly, a 'goose-pie' by Swift. The house was demolished in 1898 to make way for the Old War Office Building.Blenheim Palace
The Duke of Marlborough's forces defeated King Louis XIV's army at Blenheim, a village on theKings Weston House
Seaton Delaval Hall
Architectural reputation
Vanbrugh's prompt success as an architect can be attributed to his friendships with the influential of the day. No less than five of his architectural patrons were fellow members of the''Under this stone, reader, survey''Vanbrugh was buried in the church of St Stephen Walbrook in the
''Dead Sir John Vanbrugh's house of clay''.
''Lie heavy on him, Earth! For he''
''Laid many heavy loads on thee!''
This building (Blenheim) has been severely censured, and I agree that it is not entirely exempt from rational censure as it is too much loaded with columns and other heavy ornaments. But if we consider that Sir John Vanbrugh was to construct a building of endless duration, that no bounds were set to expense, and that an edifice was required that should strike with awe and surprise even at a distance; the architect may be excused for having sacrificed, in some degree, the elegance of design to multiplicity of ornament. All the several parts are moreover exactly calculated, all the rules of art are well observed, and this immense fabric reminds us, on the first glance, of the majesty and state of those of Greece and ancient Rome. When we behold it a distance, it appears not as a single palace, but as an entire city. We arrive at it by a stately bridge of a single arch, and which is itself a masterpiece of architecture. I have contracted a very intimate friend ship with the son of Sir John Vanbrugh, who has lately obtained a company in the foot guards, and is a young gentleman of real merit. He has shown me, not only all the designs of his father, but also two houses of his building, one near Whitehall, and the other at Greenwich. They are indeed mere models of houses, but notwithstanding their confined situation, there are everywhere traces of a master to be discovered in their execution. The vulgar critic finds too many columns and ornaments; but the true connoisseur sees that all these ornaments are accompanied with utility, and that an inventive genius is visible in every part. This architect was likewise author of several comedies, which are indeed written in a style that is rather licentious, but at the same time are resplendent with wit and vivacity. So true it is, that genius is not confined to one subject, but wherever exercised, is equally manifest.In 1766 Lord Stanhope described the Roman amphitheatre at Nîmes as 'Ugly and clumsy enough to have been the work of Vanbrugh if it had been in England.' In 1772 Horace Walpole described Castle Howard thus:
Nobody had informed me that I should at one view see a palace, a town, a fortified city, temples on high places, woods worthy of being each a metropolis of the Druids, vales connected to hills by other woods, the noblest lawn in the world fenced by half the horizon, and a mausoleum that would tempt one to be buried alive; in short I have seen gigantic places before, but never a sublime one.'Walpole was not as complimentary of Blenheim, describing it as 'execrable within, without & almost all round' and went on 'a quarry of stone that looked at a distance like a great house'. In 1773
Sir John Vanbrugh's genius was of the first class; and, in point of movement, novelty and ingenuity, his works have not been exceeded by anything in modern times. We should certainly quote Blenheim and Castle Howard as great examples of these perfections in preference to any work of our own, or of any other modern architect; but unluckily for the reputation of this excellent artist, his taste kept no pace with his genius, and his works are so crowded with barbarisms and absurdities, and so born down by their own preposterous weight, that none but the discerning can separate their merits from their defects. In the hands of the ingenious artist, who knows how to polish and refine and bring them into use, we have always regarded his productions as rough jewels of inestimable value'.In 1786 Sir Joshua Reynolds wrote in his 13th Discourse '...in the buildings of Vanbrugh, who was a poet as well as an architect, there is a greater display of imagination, than we shall find perhaps in any other.' In 1796
Legacy
Vanbrugh is remembered today for his vast contribution to British culture, theatre, and architecture. An immediate dramatic legacy was found among his papers after his sudden death, the three-act comedy fragment ''A Journey to London''. Vanbrugh had told his old friend Colley Cibber that he intended in this play to question traditional marriage roles even more radically than in the plays of his youth, and end it with a marriage falling irreconcilably apart. The unfinished manuscript, today available in Vanbrugh's ''Collected Works'', depicts a country family travelling to London and falling prey to its sharpers and temptations, while a London wife drives her patient husband to despair with her gambling and her consorting with the demi-monde ofArms
See also
* List of works by John VanbrughNotes
Citations
References
* Berkowitz, Gerald M., ''Sir John Vanbrugh and the End of Restoration Comedy'', Editions Rodopi (January 1981), . * * * * Dobrée, Bonamy (1927). Introduction to ''The Complete Works of Sir John Vanbrugh'', vol. 1. Bloomsbury: The Nonesuch Press. * Downes, Kerry (1987). ''Sir John Vanbrugh:A Biography''. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. * * Green, David (1982). ''Blenheim Palace''. Oxford: Alden Press. * Halliday, E. E. (1967). ''Cultural History of England''. London: Thames and Hudson. * Hart, Vaughan (2003). ‘“A Pretty Impudent Countenance”: John Vanbrugh’s Seaton Delaval’, ''Architectural Research Quarterly'', vol.7 no.3/4, pp. 311–23. * Hart, Vaughan (2008). ''Sir John Vanbrugh: Storyteller in Stone'', London and New Haven: Yale University Press. * Hume, Robert D. (1976). ''The Development of English Drama in the Late Seventeenth Century''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. * Hunt, Leigh (ed.) (1840). ''The Dramatic Works of Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh and Farquhar.'' * * Mallgrave, Harry Francis. (2005). ''Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey, 1673–1968''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * McCormick, Frank (1991). ''Sir John Vanbrugh: The Playwright as Architect.'' University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. * Milhous, Judith (1979). ''Thomas Betterton and the Management of Lincoln's Inn Fields 1695—1708''. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. * Sherwood, Jennifer and Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974) ''Oxfordshire'' (London: Penguin; ) * Watkin, David (1979). ''English Architecture''. London: Thames and Hudson. * * * * *Further reading
* Cordner, Michael. "Playwright versus priest: profanity and the wit of Restoration comedy". In Deborah Payne Fisk (ed.) (2000), ''The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Cropplestone, Trewin (1963). ''World Architecture''. Hamlyn. * Dal Lago, Adalbert (1966). ''Ville Antiche''. Milan: Fratelli Fabbri. * Harlin, Robert (1969). ''Historic Houses''. London: Condé Nast. * Vanbrugh, John (1927). ''The Complete Works'', vols 1–5 (ed. Bonamy Dobrée and Geoffrey Webb). Bloomsbury: The Nonesuch Press. * Whistler, Laurence (1938). ''Sir John Vanbrugh, Architect & Dramatist, 1664–1726.'' London.External links
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